Out After Curfew
by editorbit
Summary: Harry can't sleep so he decides to go get some hot chocolate, because why not? He's not the only one out of bed though.


It was in the middle of the night when he woke up. It was pitch dark in the dormitory, even as he pulled the curtains to the side to check if anyone else were awake. It seemed like everyone were fast asleep, judging by the soft snoring coming from different parts of the room. No surprise they were though, it couldn't have been anything later than three in the morning.

He tried to close his eyes and go back to sleep, but he couldn't. He closed his eyes, but nothing happened. No matter if he rolled over onto his side, his other side or his back. He laid there a while, just staring up into the darkness as he waited for himself to fall asleep.

A few minutes or so later he finally gave up, sitting up before carefully pushing the curtains to the side so he could get out of bed and maybe go down to the kitchens and get some hot chocolate or something in hopes of that making him tired. Before he left the common room as quietly as he could, worried he'd wake someone up, he grabbed his invisibility cloak, wand and glasses.

Once under the cloak he made his way down to the kitchens, his wand the only source of light in the dark hallways. He stopped every once in a while, thinking he heard something, but the hallways were still empty and dark so he continued. It must've been the wind, or perhaps a loose pet. Hopefully that loose pet wouldn't be Mrs Norris.

He had just reached the bottom of the nth flight of stairs as he heard something, or someone. Thinking it was one of the professors checking if any students were out of bed, he whispered the Wand-Extinguishing Charm as quietly as he could before moving closer to the wall, not wanting to accidentally walk right into one of the professors, or worse, Filch. He didn't even have any good excuses. Was getting hot chocolate because he couldn't sleep a good excuse?

At the end of the hallway he noticed a light, clearly one from a wand, meaning it couldn't be Filch. That was good, then the worst could be Professor Snape. He didn't think he'd get caught though. If he stuck to the wall and didn't make any sound, he'd be fine and he could continue down to the kitchens and get a cup or two of hot chocolate before he went back to bed to sleep.

It wasn't Professor Snape, or any professor for that matter. As the light got closer he noticed a mop of blond hair, and not just any shade of blond. White blond. It was Draco Malfoy. He took a step further towards the wall as the blond passed him, almost stepping on his cloak as he did. He placed a hand over his mouth as he almost gasped. Draco, who'd seemed busy checking behind him and further down the hallway, paused. He took a look around, clearly having heard something, something that was most likely Harry. He didn't say anything though, except for a mumble. Harry wondered for a second what he had just said, but he didn't have to wonder for long as the light went out.

Harry waited for a moment before he started walking, staying against the wall as he did. Judging by the footsteps he was hearing, Draco had continued walking as well. Hopefully he hadn't suspected anything.

A while later the footsteps stopped. Harry assumed Draco had taken a turn at some point and went down another hallway leading to where ever he was going, probably on his way to do something sketchy. He finally dared to step away from the wall and continued walking, a little faster this time in hopes of reaching the kitchens before he could stumble across someone else.

It was difficult to navigate around the castle without any light, but he was pretty sure he was going in the right direction. He did reach some stairs, which were going down, meaning he must've been on the right track. Keeping one hand on the railing in case he accidentally tripped, he used his other hand to finally pull out his wand to get some light. Draco had to be far away by now, doing some sketchy Slytherin thing somewhere.

He looked down just for a moment as he looked for his wand, barely noticing where he was going. He bumped right into someone. That someone let out a sound of surprise, and Harry immediately recognised the voice. The one and only, Draco Malfoy.

This time the blond clearly had some suspicions, and they were probably right as he immediately reached a hand out, pulling at the invisibility cloak. A moment later he was practically blinded by a light and right in front of him was Draco Malfoy in all his glory. He didn't look very happy, the usual look of annoyance on his face. What wasn't usual about him was the rest of his appearance. His hair wasn't slicked back as it usually was, instead looking a bit fluffier, some locks of hair in his face while some were pushed behind his ears. He was also not dressed in his uniform, it was in the middle of the night, but still, it wasn't everyday he got to see Draco Malfoy in silk pyjamas, a dressing gown and, were those fuzzy socks?

"Potter! The fuck are you doing?" the blond snarled, but still kept his voice down. "Are you following me?"

"No, I wasn't. I just didn't see you," Harry replied, trying to keep his voice down as well. "I do have a life you know. I'm not spending my nights following you around."

"Then go away. I have things to do."

"What things?" Harry asked and Draco stopped after taking a couple of steps. He turned around to look at him. "None of your business, Scarhead." He turned back and continued walking. Covering his head again with the cloak, Harry continued walking as well. Once again he looked for his wand, not noticing Draco stopping. He could practically feel him rolling his eyes as he knocked into him again and he swore he could hear the blond curse him out under his breath.

"As much as I enjoy standing here with you, Malfoy, I don't have all day." He didn't reply. He was clearly listening, or trying to. Harry stopped talking to listen as well. That's when he heard it. Footsteps. Specifically, footsteps coming closer. The chance of this being yet another student was slim. It had to be a professor patrolling the hallways. The footsteps were too loud to be coming from a student sneaking around after curfew.

Harry wasn't that worried. He had his cloak. He could just turn around, walk back up the stairs, stand against the wall and wait for whichever professor it was to walk by before going back downstairs. Draco though, didn't have it that easy.

It got dark once again and the footsteps were coming closer. Draco was going to have to go now or else he'd get caught. He'd earn himself detention, plus some points deducted, for being out after curfew.

Still, if Draco got caught, he'd tell the professor he was out after curfew as well, under his invisibility cloak.

"Malfoy," Harry whispered, adjusting the cloak. The blond turned his head. "What do you want? Planning on leaving me to get caught are you, Potter?" he replied. "Is that why you were following me?"

"Get under the cloak."

"Excuse me?"

"Do you want to get caught, Malfoy? Because I'll gladly leave you to it."

Draco stared at the spot he assumed where Harry's face was for a moment before glancing over his shoulder. Any second now, the professor would see him. "Fine, but you're not telling anyone about this, or you'll regret it." Harry lifted the cloak to let the blond get under it as well. "I wasn't planning on it. Now let's go. If we hurry, we can make it down the stairs."

Draco kept as much distance between them as possible under the cloak as they walked down the stairs, clearly not interested in touching him even the slightest. "I would appreciate it if you didn't pull at the cloak," Harry whispered, trying his best to keep the two of them hidden. "I'm not," Draco argued. "You're standing too close to me."

"We're under a cloak, Malfoy. Now stand closer or get caught." He noticed the other's face scrunching up as he walked a little closer to him, their shoulders touching. "Tell anyone about this and I'll personally make sure you're never having children, Potter."

"Hey, I'm not interested in anyone knowing either. I wouldn't want people telling rumours about me and you snogging or something-," he stopped as the other made a sound of disgust. "That's disgusting. Shut up or I'm going to throw up right on you and your dumb cloak."

"Not so dumb though, is it. Without it, you'd be stuck with me in detention for a week or two," Harry replied, watching as they finally reached the end of the stairs. "And besides, that would be less disgusting than us snogging-." Draco punched his arm, stopping him from continuing. "Shut the fuck up. I don't want to hear a single sentence with the word "snogging" coming out of your mouth, referring to us ever again."

The two stopped walking as they heard footsteps again and Harry gripped the blond's arm, making sure he wasn't moving. Draco glared at him, clearly wanting him to let go of him, which he did a few seconds later as he was worried his arm wasn't the only thing Draco was punching.

"Where are you going?" Harry whispered, keeping an eye on the light down the hallway. "None of your business," Draco whispered in reply and Harry rolled his eyes. Here he was, trying to be nice, to save himself mostly, by taking Draco to where he needed to go, a least in the right direction. "Alright then. I'm going to the kitchens so you'll just have to find your way to where you're going on your own."

"What are you doing there? Is it another one of Granger's plans to free the house elves? Sneak them out in the middle of the night?"

"For your information, I'm getting a cup of hot chocolate."

"Oh, what would Granger say to that?"

"It's just a cup of hot chocolate."

Harry started walking again and Draco followed. They stopped in front of the entrance to the kitchens. After making sure no one were around, Harry pulled of the cloak. Draco immediately took some steps away, finally getting some personal space. He ran a hand through his white blond hair, pushing his hair out of his face.

Harry stepped closer to the painting, noticing Draco already walking away in the corner of his eye. He stopped though, but didn't turn around. Harry glanced at him, wondering what he was doing, thinking he heard something again. But it was silent.

"Potter."

"Yes?"

He wasn't sure what he was expecting. What did the boy want now?

"Thanks."

And off he went, leaving a stunned Harry in the dark hallway with his invisibility cloak draped over his arm.


End file.
